Improvement in the means of attaching



Y H. METGALFE. Meansof Attaching Cartrid ge Magazine Blocks to Flre-Arms.

Patenrdom. 7,1873.

-llln @T43 QD G) @f rlll Mmmm, maza-@z HENRY METCALFE, LIEUTENANT, UNITED STATES ARMY.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MEANS OF- ATTACHING.CARTRIDGEMAGAZINE-BLOCKS T0 FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent VNo. 43,l1l5,`dated October 7,1873; application filed May i9, 1873.

To all 'whom @may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY METCALFE, Lieutenant in the United States Army, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Attachments to BreechALoading Fire-Arms and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings making a part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, in which- Figure 1 is a Iside view of a portion of a breech-loading fire-arm adapted to my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section through line I of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the retaining-pin. Fig. 4 is a rear-end view of the rear barrel-band as adapted tomy attachment.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the block or cartridgeloading and firing the arm rapidly; and my invention consists of mechanical devices, as `hereinafter explained, whereby the cartridges may be placed together in a receptacle, and the latter attached to the gun for convenient use in rapid tiring, said receptacle being conveniently arranged for carrying the same in the cartridge-boxLand which receptacle may be thrown away after the cartridges have been removed therefrom.`

That others skilled in the art may be able to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same.`

In the drawings, A represents the barrel of a breech-loading gun; B, the stock, and b the rear barrel-band, which securesv the two together. c is a pin having a notch, c', therein, and provided with a head, D, which is made concave at the end to correspond with the groove E of the stock, and `a hole is made through the side of ythe stock, into and through which the pin c is inserted from the inside of the barrel-groove E, the head D fitting a recess in the stock made to receive it, as shown clearly in Fig. 3, so that when the stock is secured to the barrel the pin c is secured firmly in place. The band b is provided with avertical slot or recess, o, which is concave at its inner end, as shown clearly in 6, and the stock of the gun may be made iiat upon the side C between the pin c and the band b, the

j latter being properly secured tothe gun in any The block or holder which .contains the cartridges may be made of wood Orother suitable cheap material, and is prodesirable manner.

vided with a series of holes, c, as shown in Fig. 5, and the block d is ehami'ered at the ends, as

shown at f, to permit the block to slipv into place easily when the wires h and h are bent close to the block. These wires are secured in the side of the block near each end, and are bent backward into a position nearly parallel with the block, that shown at h being' bent in a circular form, as shown clearly in Fig. 6, to correspond with the inner end of the recess o in the band, while the wire h at the opposite end of the block is bent with a short crook or indent, i, therein, as shown in Fig. 6. The cover m of the block or holder 0l is provided with a series of holes, corresponding with those in the block, to receive the heads of the car tridges when in place in the block 5 and the joint between the block and its cover is represented by the dotted line r in Fig. 6, and this joint is covered, when the cartridges are all in the block, bya strip of paper, t, which is pasted to the block and its cover all around, with a string beneath at the joint r, with its end left loose, as shown at u. These blocks or holders d may be carried in an ordinary cartridge-box provided with pins, flanges, or bent pieces of metal secured to the inside of the box, or by any other suitable and convenient means of securing the blocks, and three of these blocks or cartridge-holders may be packed in the cartridge-box, each block containing eight cartridges, or twenty-four in all, and so arranged that the blocks may be quickly taken from the box and attached to the gun.

The operation of the invention is as follows: One of the blocks or holders d is taken from the cartridge-box, and the circular part of the wire h is inserted in the recess o in the band b, and the other end of the block d forced down, the wire h impinging against the pin c in its notch c', and, the wire springing inward a little, the block and wire pass down until the pin enters the short crook or indent i of the wire h, when the wire springs outward again. Theposition of the block or holder d when thus in place upon the gun is shown clearly in dotted lines in Fig. l. The operator then seizes the end of the string n, and by giving it a quick pull it tears the strip of paper t at the joint r, so that the cover m is thrown clear of the block. As the holder is then in position upon the gun, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l, with the cartridges projecting above the block d, they may be conveniently and readily seized with the f1ngers,.and used in loading and ring the arm. After all the cartridges of one holder have been used the block or holder d is thrown away and another one containing cartridges taken from the cartridge-box and attached to the gun, as before, and so on.

This arrangement of blocks or holders, and their attachment to abreech-loading gun, as described, will enable a soldier to load and re his gun nearly or quite as rapidly as a magazine-gun could be used, and the soldier Will not be obliged to carry 'any eXtra accouterments or conveniences for accomplishing this change in the manipulation and management of his gun, as the blocks or holders may be manufactured so cheaply that they may be thrown away after the cartridges are used.

Instead of a recess, 0, in the band, two pins projecting from the stock, similar to the pin c, may be used, sufficiently far apart to place the block or holder between, one pin being placed above the other at each end in any convenient manner to support the block, without departing from the principle of operation.

I am aware that devices have heretofore been used for attachment to a gun to facilitate rapid ring, and I do not claim the same irrespective of my invention thereof, as above described; but

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination, with a gun-stock, of hooks or projections, substantially such as dcscribed, so that a block or cartridge-holder provided with a bent wire at each end, as set forth, may be attached thereto.

2. A block or cartridge-holder, d, when provided with a bent wire at each end, substantially as set forth, and adapted to be carried in a cartridge-box and to be attached to a gunstock, as described.

HENRY METCALFE. Witnesses:

HUGH sirname, LoYALL 'FARRAGUT. 

